In the wholesale and retail manufacturing business, there is often a need to display samples of various manufactured items for a customer to view before the customer makes a purchasing decision. These samples can be almost any type of commercial product including various products used in building, construction, or home improvement. The products can be various sizes, shapes, and weights, thus making display of such items a challenge.
In some instances, it is advantageous to display multiple samples on one or more pages, sample cards, or sample display devices including sample books, folios, folders and display boards. For example, a carpet or flooring manufacturer may desire to display a dozen samples or more on a single page so that a customer can easily compare the products being displayed.
In other instances, the samples may include heavy or dense materials, such as, for example, quartz, marble or granite used in many areas of home and commercial construction. The density of granite is about 2.7 grams per cubic centimeter, or almost three times heavier than water.
Because some materials are natural products, sample sizes and weights may vary. Further, samples of natural stone or rock based product, or man-made synthetic rock type products, are often irregular in shape, size, or weight because such sample materials, are typically cut from larger pieces rather than being molded to form a precise size and shape. For illustrative purposes, a 4 inch long by 4 inch wide by 1.25 inch thick sample of granite counter top material can weigh on the order of two pounds. A two pound granite sample falling from a height of 3 or 4 feet can easily break or fracture a human toe, cause serious bodily harm or damage to property, such as a wood floor.
Conventional sample display devices are often made from low density materials such as polystyrene based foams. Such devices are structurally unable to hold multiple samples of dense materials. Known sample display devices are also inadequate in that they do not allow a user to insert a sample into a secure sample holder such that the sample cannot fall out and injure a person or cause property damage. For example, an unsupervised child may plays with sample displays while the child's parents are occupied shopping for building materials.
Thus, it is desirable that sample display devices including display folders are able to accommodate various sizes, shapes, and weights of both synthetic and natural materials in a safe and secure manner. The disclosure herein provides means for displaying a wide variety of materials in a plurality of display configurations.
Advantageously, the device is able to display heavy or irregular material samples, such as granite, quartz, or marble, in a safe secure manner in which samples can be easily removed from and placed securely into the disclosed sample display devices.